Konoha X
Part I: Konohamaru's getting old!
Konohamaru stared longingly at the girl in front of him. Her long wavy hair crept past her shoulders, almost reaching the bottom of her pale back. It was a fiery red colour, a colour that was somehow reflected in her passionate spirit. She was loosely turning a kunai in her hand, and breathing heavily – catching her breath back from her rigorous training. After a few seconds she launched herself into the air. She chucked the kunai at a target attached to the tree, the same tree that Konohamaru was hiding behind. He flinched, hoping she had not seen him – he often followed her, just to watch her and smell her. She produced six more kunai from her belt. She twisted and twirled in the air, sending kunais hurtling through the air, each one perfectly meeting their intended target. It looked as though she was dancing in the sky, like a leaf lost in the wind. Konohamaru was mesmerized by her movements, all he could see was her, the girl that represented everything he's always wanted. The soft thud of her landing brought Konohamaru back to reality.
"What are you doing Konohamaru?" The girl said without even turning her head. At the sound of this Konohamaru's face erupted in red. He could not believe he'd let her see him!
"I umm…, err…" He spluttered as he slowly walked out from behind the safety of the tree.
"If you want help training for the Genin exam tomorrow you could have just asked." She said turning to face her best friend. He backed away, and looked down at the floor.
"Err yeah, that's it," He said, seizing the escape route she had handed him, "Sorry, I was just too embarrassed to ask."
"Don't worry about it!" She smiled sweetly at the boy in front of her, "How's your transformation technique and your shadow clone technique, you need them to pass the preliminary exam!"
"Umm, not great…"
"Oh dear, do you know the right seals?"
"Kind of. You're getting really good now Moegi-sama"
Moegi smiled at him "thanks!" Konohamaru went even redder and looked down at his shoes awkwardly. To his surprise, Moegi grabbed his wrist gently.
"Come on" She said, laughing "I'm not having you fail tomorrow!"
Konohamaru looked down despairingly at the half-dead clone beside him. His face was a mixture of tiredness and frustration. Him and Moegi had been training for three hours, yet Konohamaru had not been able to produce a single decent clone or transform into anything almost close to the Hokage. In fact the closest he'd come was a hairy dwarf, but at least it was female! His shadow clone technique was slightly more successful, yet they were still far from exam standard. Moegi, who could make five clones at once and transform into anything, was also beginning to lose patience.
"KONOHAMARU!" She shouted after seeing his latest attempt "Why did you not ask for help six months ago!"
Konohamaru sighed, he'd been wondering the same question. He knew the answer though – six months ago was when he first discovered his new found love for her. He can remember that exact day. They were just lying down, gazing at the stars and talking. Her laugh began to make his stomach do somersaults and he desperately tried to make her laugh all night. He began acting like an idiot, but it was just because he longed to impress her. He began to become transfixed by her deep blue eyes, and the innocent looks she gave him made his whole body shiver. Yet now he was far from impressing her. To her he was pathetic, he couldn't even do the simplest of Jutsu when she had mastered Genin level techniques. But worst of all, it had just dawned on him that he would be split apart from her. If he didn't pass then she would meet loads of new Genin friends while he was forced to retake an academy year. She wouldn't get to see him improve, and he wouldn't get to see her… at all. He got so caught up in his love for her that he stopped training completely. He used to just take it for granted that because of his father he would become a great ninja, and so did everyone else. He began to care much less about schoolwork and training and much more about hanging out with his friends, especially Moegi. And now, like a slap around the face, he had been viciously confronted with the almost certainty of failure.
"Moegi-sama, what should I do?" Konohamaru said, burying his head in his hands. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, making his body tingle.
"Try again"
"But I've been trying all evening and I'm getting nowhere!"
"Well that's what I did. Just practised, and I got better. If you want my opinion, I think the only way to truly improve is practice."
"There's always flukes!"
"You shouldn't rely on flukes Konohamaru" She said disapprovingly, shaking her head. But then her face twisted into a smile "but it would be great if you pulled one off!" Konohamaru smiled faintly, but didn't say anything. He turned around and walked a bit away. His face was now filled with a look of pure determination. He released all the thoughts of Moegi, all his worries about the exam and all the growing thoughts about food from his mind. He then concentrated all his energy on the task at hand. He didn't rush this time like he usually does, instead he controlled his breathing and made himself sense everything around him and inside him. For the first time in his life he could feel the chakra running through his veins and he could sense where each tenketsu was on his body. He felt as though he could make this strange thing within him do whatever he wanted and, for the first time, he really felt in control of his body. Almost subconsciously he began forming the seals needed to perform the Shadow Clone technique perfectly. As he made the final seal he forced all of his chakra to surge towards his hands. A faint 'poof' was heard and a cloud of smoke appeared just next to him. As the wind whisked the smoke away, to Konohamaru's and Moegi's great surprise, another Konohamaru was revealed. It was not a perfect clone but it was standing and, if you squinted, they looked almost identical.
"KONOHAMARU!" Moegi shouted, but this time not because of disappointment and anger but because of glee and of course shock. She wrapped her arms around him with such force Konohamaru was almost knocked off his feet. He just stood there dumbfounded as she squeezed his body with pride. His face grew redder the longer she stayed there. She weakened her grip but did not let go entirely, instead she just stayed there, her soft arms wrapped around his waist. Her sweet scent filled his nostrils, and he could feel her warm breath against his neck. All his senses were alert, and every hair on his body was stood on end. His heart beat fast and his body tingled with a mixture of nerves and excitement. He looked down at the girl pressed against his chest, and met her gaze. Just for a moment, he felt as though she felt the same way about him…
"MOEGI! DINNER TIME!" The sudden interruption took them both by surprise. They tore away from each other as fast as possible. Konohamaru buried his hands deep into his pockets and looked everywhere but at her. Both of them looked embarrassed and this time, Konohamaru was not the only one who was red.
"Anyway, I better go…" Moegi muttered. Konohamaru was glad she had broken the silence but sad she had to leave.
"Err yeah, see you around" Konohamaru said unable to look her in the eye.
"Yeah, bye" She said, and with that ran towards the intruding voice.
Konohamaru slid down the tree trunk, and sat exhausted on the floor. The last few rays of sun danced across his face, he closed his eyes to shield the blare. A bead of sweat dripped off a brown spike of hair and slid down his face. Konohamaru was now 13, he had grown a lot taller and stronger in the last six years. He'd ditched the hat and cape and opted for usually a tight red top and brown spiky hair. He was an athletic build and looked old for his age. He had been training for six hours now. He'd almost mastered the shadow clone technique but was nowhere near getting the transformation technique. He buried his head in his hands and let a single tear slide down his face, he was almost giving up hope. He sat back and thought of all the people he cared about. His first thought was not of Moegi but of his father – the third Hokage. He remembered his kind eyes and the way he smiled at him, even when he was being told off. He remembered the wrinkles that formed at the corner of his eyes when he looked at him with such endearment. But most of all he remembered his spirit and his love for Konoha – he believed that the village was a big family and that everyone must look after one another. He thought the backbone of the village was the ninja's and believed that Konohamaru would become one of those ninjas, a great ninja. Yet Konohamaru was letting him down. He then thought about Uzumaki Naruto - his friend and almost brother. Naruto had taught Konohamaru all he knew, and Konohamaru trusted and relied on him more than anyone else. Naruto never gave up, even when the whole village turned him into an outcast, he built a life, he got acknowledged. Yet Konohamaru was letting him down. Konohamaru then thought about his closest friends, Udon and Moegi. They had always stood by him, even sometimes looked up to him. And both of them were going to pass, when he was just going to fail. They are going to go on without him, the legendary three will be no more. They've always believed in him, yet he was letting them down. Konohamaru stood up and clenched his fists. The same determined look swept across his face as when he did his first successful shadow clone technique. He bit his lip and a droplet of blood landed on his chin. Then he muttered six words that he promised not to go back on.
"I will not let anyone down…"
